10 Thoughts on Texas Rangers @ New York Mets (Game 68 - Doubleheader Game 2)

Boxscore

The Mets are 32-35, 7.5 games behind the Phillies for the NL East and 7.5 games behind the Cardinals for the Wildcard. They are still closer to the NL East toilet (5.5 games) then they are to the top. This is the third of three and the rubber match against the 35-35 Texas Rangers and the second game of a single-admission doubleheader.

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1) You know, it would have been really, really nice to see Pedro just mow down the first three batters and set the tone for everyone.

2) For the record, the Mets have never faced Kason Gabbard before so strap in for a long evening.

3) I was glad to hear Gary make the point about the utter ridiculousness of the Mets and Yankees scheduling the crosstown doubleheader such that people will be driving from Yankee Stadium to Shea Stadium at 5pm… on a Friday… in New York City… in the summer. So, somewhere along the line, the braintrust behind the Yankees, Mets, and Major League Baseball decided it would be a good idea to schedule two games in two different stadiums such that people will be forced to go between the two stadiums during rush hour. And, since it’s a Friday preceding a holiday they’ll have extra super bonus rush hour traffic going to the Hamptons. Even with a police escort this game could literally be delayed due to traffic. This all being done when both the Mets and Yankees have September 11th off. You’re telling me you can’t convince the players to have a 9/11 day at Yankee Stadium on the last month that Yankee Stadium will ever be opened? If that’s the case, the players shouldn’t be playing here. The second stellar fan-friendly decision made by Bud Selig this week. Excellent job, Bud… butthead.

4) I’d like to point out that if Willie ends up getting fired at the end of this game, the symbolic moment will be Damion Easley dropping a simple pop-fly and then staying in the game with no repercussions followed by Jose Reyes making a bonehead play and firing the ball to first instead of creating a rundown and getting a guaranteed out at third. Unbelievable.

5) Good to see the Mets fight back with couple clutch hits by Beltran and Wright. Hopefully that helps snap Wright out of his funk. The timely hitting for this team really has to turn around at some point, doesn’t it?

6) I thought the Kevin Youklis vs. Manny Ramirez would be the most ridiculous “who the f*ck are you” argument between two ballplayers this season. It only lasted a few weeks as Marlon Byrd started throwing dirty looks and talking smack to Pedro Martinez. A 30-year-old career bench player is going to run down a first ballot Hall of Famer? Really?

7) As Gary points out, Willie decided to bench Pedro and put in Robinson Cancel — who has one hit at the major league level in the last nine years. If anyone’s wondering, it was 1999 and he was a Brewer. Since he got a 2-run single, this was a brilliant move by field general Willie Randolph. Of course, this leaves three innings of work for the bullpen. Anyone else just reach for a stuffed animal?

8) The bullpen swings six of the nine required outs; which leaves a ninth inning full of Billy Wagner. If I said I was confident, I’d be lying. That said, what’s the play if Billy Wagner blows this game? Is there one? Not really, right? He’s got a blanket no-trade and is pulling in $10.5M this year and next. Now we’re talking about trading for Brian Fuentes? Great.

9) I wanted nothing more than to see Carlos Beltran jack one to the scoreboard to put this game “out of reach.” I put that in quotes because… well… you know.

10) Wagner nailed it down in “first two months of the year” Wagner style. That was good to see. It was somewhat obvious that Wagner would have to regress to the mean over the course of the season… it just would have been nice if he didn’t do it all in one week.

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Unfortunately, in the press conference after the game Omar still wouldn’t back his manager… which is slowly making me turn on Omar. I really, really wish he would tell the media that Willie is the manager for the long haul. Willie can’t pitch for the bullpen and the bullpen is public enemy #1 here at The Stache.

So, the Mets take their last trip to the West Coast this week and return in time for Ryan Church to come off the DL.

For the record. If the Mets allow Church to fly to Colorado (he’s eligible to come off the DL that weekend) I’m going to… well…. gripe angrily.